Philippine Educational System
Philippine Educational System
Education, a single word that branches out to countless opportunities and prospects that can
lead each and every individual to a greater and brighter future. Learning is one of our sources of
gaining and being enlightened with knowledge, development, and improvement that is of course
given to us by our teachers or facilitators. Yet, we cannot say that we gain knowledge only inside
our schools, but rather in the daily basis of our lives. Thus, it could possibly be when we
encounter new things, facing challenges or when we have successfully conquered one.
“Knowledge is power” and so does the person whom hold this treasure. We all know that
education is important for everyone, and it is essential for each to successfully attend school.
The respect given to education by Filipinos is made clear in a Tagalog Proverb cited by
that cannot be stolen.” This hunger for learning, and the recognition that “families will make any
sacrifice to get their children to school…they’ll move heaven and earth to achieve it” (Doyle
2005), go some way towards explaining the great successes the Philippines has achieved in
literacy and school enrolment. To date, the literacy rate among Filipinos remains high, according to a
2016 data from the United Nations Human Development Report. At 97.95 percent, the Philippines still
has one of the highest literacy rates among Southeast Asian countries, next to Singapore, Brunei, and
Indonesia. The literacy rate of women and men aged 15-24 is at 98.9 percent and 97 percent,
respectively. While the current literacy rate is considerably high, the remaining gap of about 2 percent
The Philippine educational system has been heavily influenced by the colonial history of the
country. Until the Spanish conquest initiated in 1521, education consisted mainly of the young
learning indigenous Filipino tribal customs and vocations through informal instruction and
observation. As in most colonial countries, education alongside religion was used as a tool for
controlling and profiting from its people and resources. Schools were not formally set up until
1863, and even then had the main function of teaching religion to an elite few. The use of
Spanish as the language of instruction and the huge geographical disparity caused by the
difficulties associated with travelling across mountains and islands led to further educational
inequality. Education collapsed during the revolution of 1896, but was quickly reintroduced by
the new colonial power. Under the United States, the educational system became more patterned.
The medium of instruction became English and textbooks, resources, and even some teachers
were imported. The education system changed radically since the country achieved independence
in 1946. The educational system has moved towards a more Philippine-based and more practical
approach to learning. One result is that, since the new constitution of 1987, both English and
Filipino became the official languages of instruction, with Filipino commonly used in private
schools at all levels and in all schools from higher primary level onward.
Until 2011, the basic education system was composed of six years of elementary education
starting at the age of 6, and four years of high school education starting at the age 12. Further
such as universities. In 2011, the country started to change from its old 10-year basic educational
system to a K-12 educational system, as mandated by the Department of Education. This was
considered as the country’s massive overhaul of the education system, in which according to
them will benefit not only the Filipino youth but all the Filipinos in the Philippines. The
administration asserts that with the implementation of such program, the problem of
concerned, the K12 education also responds to the fact that most countries in the world already
have the same plan in their educational institutions. With this, the standards of these countries go
a notch higher than what the country has, thus, creating an expansion in the global
competency. What was once a 10-year basic education cycle is now 12 years long, with four
tracks for students to choose from: Academic, Sports, Arts and Design, and
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood. Four more strands fall under the Academic track: Accounting,
(STEM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), and General Academics. Its
implementation was considered a crucial step not just in moving the education system to the
world-class standard the country has been aspiring for so long, but equipping young Filipinos
with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enter the global workforce. It was
successful in increasing enrollment rates and decreasing out-of-school youth rates. Since
introducing Senior High School in 2016, the DepEd recorded the attendance of Balik-Aral
learners — or students who returned to school after dropping out — grew from 158,131 learners
in school year 2016-2017 to 301,744 in 2017-2018 (Casco, 2018). However, the reaction of the
public regarding this issue is divided, where some are in favor and some are not. There are many
speculations spoken by different people regarding the implementation of the K-12 Curriculum.
DepEd Secretary, Bro. Armin A. Luistro said that he is trying to change the traditional way of
teaching, trying to resolve different problems, control and motivates the teachers, students,
parents and government officials to cooperate in order to help our students to be globally
competitive. He said that our country’s educational system is not in a crisis but rather under the
chronic illness. Chronic in a sense that, the problems that beset the system now have been in
A group of researchers guided by Professor Yutaka Otsuka suggested several factors that
affect the quality of education in the Philippines after conducting their research. One is that there
are not enough teaching materials provided by our government to aide learning inside the
classroom. Normally, Filipino students don’t get their own textbook that they can bring home.
They have to share it with their classmates so they can participate in class. I have experienced
this situation when I was still in elementary. We were given a set of books but not everyone gets
each book and so in some activities we have to share a book; English is used as a medium of
instruction in our schools alongside our national language which is Filipino. But we have over
100 languages in our country which are seldom used in schools before the Department of
The number of students in a class shows that there is a lack in facilities offered by many of our
schools in the country; A number of high school graduates go directly to work in the society.
However most of our high school graduates do not have the skills required to be hired by
companies. This problem is being dealt with by DepEd through the addition of Senior High
School in the K-12 program which aims to prepare the future graduates for work; Lastly, the
significant difference between the quality of education offered in the rural and urban areas.
There are a lot of problems regarding the Philippine education system that we need to face
but our Department of Education should look at the factors when they reflect on their current
policies. DepEd has already taken several measures in order to solve these problems. The
incumbent government is taking big leaps in our education system which may dictate the future
of our country. And in this process they may need to make important decisions to be able to
solve some problems. We must not forget to remind them that above everything else we must
prioritize the quality of education that the young Filipinos will get. And the government and its
constituents must help each other hand-in-hand to achieve the best kind of education we can give
to them. A different approach must be taken for our country’s educational system because, if
things stay the same, we can’t expect better things for our country in the future. In order for our
country to progress, education can’t just be free. Students, whether in public schools or private,
must be assigned with teachers who want to teach. Teachers cannot just come to class, write
words on the black board and expects students to immediately absorb the information without
any other formal discussions. The people chosen to teach in schools must truly have a passion for
passing on what they know to students. These people must also be open to any situation because
there will always be students who don’t immediately understand a certain topic in class. In short,
our country’s teachers have got to love what they do because when students see the fire in a
teacher’s eyes when explaining a certain lesson then these students, in turn, develop a passion for
learning. When our country’s youth become passionate about learning then they will develop a
sense of awareness in our country and, hopefully, this sense of awareness will push the next
generation of Filipinos toward change. A change not just in the framework of our education, our
government, or our nation, but rather, a positive change in the outlook of Filipinos on life. With
any luck, Filipinos will develop views inspired by nationalism wherein their focus will not just
Too often in this world do we see people who decide to buy products because of their low
price. Although many might say that they aim to save and spend less, in the long run, good
quality products will always yield the best outcome in any situation. Of course, spending every
cent in your pocket is not the right thing to do, but giving as much as you can in the smartest way
possible will lead to good results on your end. I think the same goes for education. You have to
invest in good education for you to make the most of your learning experience.